Wolf Part I

Nate G, Natalie G (no relation), Mike J, Kari, Dennis, T-bone, and myself took a spin up to Section IV of the wolf to check out the fall colors and see what the river looked like at low water. We paddled Section IV on Saturday, then camped at Bear Paw, then Nate, Natlie, Mike, and I did Section III on Sunday, while Kari and Tony headed up to Piers Gorge. Despite the low water, the drops were alot of fun and somehow the sun managed to peek out just as we were getting on the river. Gots some decent pictures, but didn't bring along the good camera like I had wanted to. Be sure to look for Natalie entering the first hole in the Dells shot (2nd pic in this post). I had to post the pics for this trip in 2 posts because Blogger seems to have trouble displaying more than 5 shots at a time. Be sure to check the Wolf Part II post for the rest of the pics!

Wolf Part II

Ok, Here's the rest of the pics. Anybody who was on the trip and wants me to send them a CD with all of the pics can e-mail me. Otherwise, I'll keep copies for when I see you guys next.

Wausau 9-3-06

Made it out to the last Wausau release of the year. It was great to see Dennis, Bill, Kari, Nora, and others out there. Unfortunately, I wasn't paddling that well, but the weather was great and it was a good time. Also, Kim came along to check it out and shoot some pictures. After the release, we hung around wausau that night, then stopped by the Leinenkugel brewery on our way home on Monday. Fun weekend, despite my paddling issues.

More Contest Photos

Here's a couple other photos that I took for that contest, but didn't get them in before the deadline.

Scuba Diving

My friend Jason and I went scuba diving in Lake Wazee (Near Black River Falls, WI) on Friday. It was my first time in the last 2 years, so it was nice to have an easy shore dive as a refresher. Wazee is an abandoned iron mine that has filled in with water to become a 355' deep lake. The bottom is made up of a combination of sheer cliffs and sloping access roads, so there are a variety of environments to dive in. Normally the visibility is supposed to be 30-40', but we went right after a big thunderstorm that kicked up enough setiment to drop the vis to about 8'. We got to do one dive in a sunken forest at about 30', then another dive along a wall where we went to a platform at around 55'. Due to the thermocline, our time below 30' was pretty limited. At surface, the water was around 70 degrees, but at the 55' platform it was around 34 degrees. Brrrrr. We did see lots of bass and panfish in the shallower waters and got to try throwing rocks under water. It's a lot harder than it sounds.

Photo Contest

Kim's office is redecorating, so they decided to hold a photo contest as a way of getting some artwork. The theme had to be minnesota-based. Kim and I spent a couple hours around the cities shooting, and here's a couple of the shots we came up with. Hope you like em.

Wausau 8-13

Finally made it back to Wausau for the first time this summer. Bill K, Dennis, Nate, Ben Swails, and some others got to go play on the course all day. Can't get enough of that loop hole. Everybody managed to hit some pretty sweet moves and we all got treated to watching some great paddlers going big. Can't wait to go back.

Nate's Bachelor BBQ

Yes, it's sad but true: Nate is getting hitched. So, today a bunch of us went out to Lake Harriet for some grilling, slack line walking, football and swimming. Had a great time, and I wish Nate and Emily all the best.

Climbing, Canoeing, and Camping

Most of this weekend was spent between Rochester and Whitewater State park nearby. My self, Kim, and Kim's friends Lindsey and Jason climbed over 600 stairs to get up a hill to a forest service tower, then climbed the tower for a pretty cool view. After that, we spent 3 hours canoeing the Whitewater river, then camped in the state park. Great cooking on the part of Lindsey and Jason led to an awesome fire-grilled dinner. Great weather, great weekend.

Darn Tourists...

OK Jill, here's your post. Audrey and Andrew came out from Ireland to see how our Independence Day goes. They wound up getting a highspeed tour of Minnesota, including watersports, cliff jumping, a visit to Lake Superior, the zoo, a Saints game, and more. Busy schedule, but lots of fun.